Award at the European Satellite Navigation Competition 2010
From parking zones to space
Meter Maid at the ESNC
Together with Dialogues Technology, I took part in the European Satellite Navigation Competition with my parking application “Meter Maid”.
The ESNC is organised every year by the European space organisation ESA to find new applications for the upcoming competitor of GPS, namely “Galileo”. Galileo is more accurate than GPS and therefore offers many new possibilities.
Making parking easier
By providing the Meter Maid app with information about parking zones and their geographical boundaries, ease of use increases. A working prototype (using GPS) already selects the right zone almost every time and makes it possible to stop and start parking actions automatically.
The organisation rewarded this application with a prize for its innovative character.
The demonstration
Together with Bastiaan, I gave a demonstration of the idea and the implementation.
It was fun to do, because the room was filled with a mixed audience, from scientists to entrepreneurs. Also, you don’t give a demo within the walls of ESA every day!
Tour of the flight control centre
The day was closed with an impressive tour of the flight control centre.
In the photo you can see the astronauts who are present in the ISS, next to screens filled with the hundreds of tasks they have to perform every day.